The Thing About the Dawn
by laust179
Summary: "There's just something so comforting about dawn. Like the way the sky changes from dark to light so gradually, but beautifully." "Wow, have you ever thought of being a poet?" He rolled his eyes, "It just... it almost feels hopeful, you know." "Careful, Malfoy, someone might think we're friends." "Well they would be very wrong. And stupid." Full summary inside.
1. Prologue

_Summary: Aurora Lillian Potter does her best to keep her "baby" brother out of trouble because of a promise she made long ago. Of course, the fact that her brother is Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, tends to make the job more difficult. Add on top of that her attempt to be her own person and not just "Potter's sister," and there is bound to be some drama. All that's left to say is, good luck, Aurora._

 **A/N: Hi all, this is my new Draco/OC story, some things will be similar to my first story** ** _The Dragon's Light_** **, so if you read that one you might recognize a few things. This story is going to start with GoF and will go through the series form there. I hope you all enjoy and please review so I know how I can improve my writing! Without further ado, here is the story!**

PROLOGUE

"Picture!"

A surprisingly loud voice came from a little girl of about two, as she posed in the living room, clearly ready for the picture that she had called for. Her mother laughed while holding her baby brother and her father shook his head with a chuckle, "Of course, darling. Whatever my little girl wants." This was generally the response this particular little girl received from her father, as she was after all his little princess.

With that, the family gathered in front of the camera, all smiling as the flash went off. Of course the little girl wanted to take a second one "just in case," but it was useless given the wailing her baby brother had started as soon as the camera flashed. She was angry at first but she didn't want to scare her baby brother again, so she gave in. However when she looked at the picture she smiled and decided they had no need for another one because this one was perfect! She was standing front and center in her Dorothy costume, her parents on either side dressed as Glinda and the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the photo was completed by her baby brother dressed as Toto sitting in her basket.

She just knew this Halloween would be special and she was happy to have captured it in a picture. Maybe next Halloween they would actually be able to go outside. She said as much to her parents who exchanged a look before her mother smiled and said "Maybe, darling."

The little girl frowned because she knew that when her mother said "maybe," it really meant "don't get your hopes up." However, she got over her moment of sadness because as long as she got to spend Halloween with her family, she would be happy. And if she got to choose their costumes again. When she repeated this to her parents, her mum's eyes got watery ("allergies" she always said) and her dad picked her up and told her with a proud smile, "That's right darling. Family is the most important thing and you must always remember that."

She just smiled right back at him, "Don't worry, daddy. I will!" And with that, he put her back down and she started playing with her brother as their parents watched on with smiles on their faces.

As the night wore on, the little girl ended up making many more promises to her parents that night, after the bad man came.

"Go with your mum, always remember how much I love you darling." "Don't worry, daddy. I will."

"Stay hidden and stay quiet. Always know that I love you." "Don't worry mummy, I know."

"Make sure to always take care of Harry, darling." "Don't worry, mummy. I will."

As that little girl grew up, though she forgot the people she made the promises to, she vowed to herself that she would do everything in her power to never break those promises. Never.


	2. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

This is the story of one Aurora Lillian Potter, older sister to the famous boy-who-lived, Harry Potter. And by older, it means only by about 10 months (the Potters were obviously not very good at taking preventative measures… or they just had horrible luck). Now, anyone who knew the Potters could tell that Harry Potter was most definitely James Potter's son. They could have been the same person if not for his eyes. However, anyone who saw Aurora Potter could tell she was the daughter of James _and_ Lily Potter. She was a perfect mixture of the two young adults. She had the jet-black color of her father's hair, but the smooth, silky waves of her mother's. She had the curves of her mother, but the lean muscles of her father. She had the warm, hazel eyes of James, but in them one could find the kindness and understanding only found in Lily's eyes. She had the pink, plump lips of her mother, but the blinding, toothy grin of her father. She had the loyalty of James and the fiery temper of Lily. She had inherited the determination and natural magical ability of her father and the curiosity and study habits of her mother. And just like both of her parents, she was a force to be reckoned with when she needed to be and she was a caring and easy-going friend when she needed to be. She was the obvious offspring of the famed couple.

And she was definitely Harry Potter's sister. It was almost hysterical how the two siblings could pull the same exact scowl and Merlin help you if you were ever on the receiving end of them. The pair had also seemed to inherit their father's athletic ability and it was always amusing to see them face off in quidditch matches, even if Harry was a seeker and Aurora was a chaser. Another clue into their relationship was Aurora's fierce protective nature. It got her into trouble fairly often, but it wasn't her fault that her brother's fame made him prone to threats. Harry usually had to tell her to cool it, but he didn't understand she had made promises and she intended to keep them.

"Rory!"

A loud groan resounded around the room, "No, too early."

A huff was heard and then _thump._

"Ouch! Was that really necessary, Ginny?"

"If I have to be up, you have to be up."

Aurora Potter glared at Ginny Weasley from her makeshift bed on the floor after being rudely woken up by a pillow to the head. Ginny just stuck her tongue out and Rory rolled her eyes, throwing the pillow back onto the redhead's bed. The two girls had a very easy-going friendship that began in Rory's third year when she witnessed little second-year Ginny hex Mulciber after he made a dumb comment about her traumatizing first-year. After Mulciber cried out in pain, Rory had approached Ginny and gave her a silent high-five. Ginny had smiled bashfully and the two had been friends ever since. It helped that their brothers were best friends so they ended up spending a lot of time together. This morning, they both began the slow process of getting out of bed when there was a knock at the door as Molly Weasley poked her head in and told them to hurry because everyone was waiting on the girls.

Ginny groaned, "We're coming, we're coming."

Rory quickly got dressed and threw her hair up into a messy ponytail, "There. Done."

Ginny and Hermione - who was quiet up to that point due to her lack of joy and energy in the mornings - finished getting ready too, and they all grabbed their bags and headed down the stairs.

Now was when Hermione finally decided to speak up with, "See, I told you we would be glad that we packed last night instead."

Rory rolled her eyes, "Yes, Mione you were right, what else is new."

Ginny snickered as they made their way into the kitchen, where all of the boys and Arthur were already gathered. Ginny and Hermione made their way toward the table, while Rory made her way to the twins. Now, Rory and the twins went way back to her first-year. She had come across them scheming up a prank, one that they had intended to use on her, but it had failed. She had laughed and told them they forgot to add crushed bat spleen to their concoction. The twins had exchanged looks of shock before nodding to each other and declaring her their prodigy. She had politely declined because their pranks were a bit too showy and risky for her tastes, but she promised to help them brainstorm. And the rest, as they say, was history. As she neared them, she noticed their clothes were slightly bulging and her suspicions were confirmed when she hugged George.

"Good morning, our lovely Aurora, don't you look lively?"

She rolled her eyes at them, "Really, you think your mother won't notice?"

They looked at her with (totally unbelievable) innocent expressions, "Whatever do you mean, Rory?"

"I mean the very obvious toffees in your pockets."

The twins exchanged a nervous glance, "Are they really that obvious?"

Rory scoffed with an unimpressed look, "Oh please, you expect us to believe you gained five pounds overnight? Come on, give me some."

They gave her confused looks and she sighed, "Your mum won't suspect me. But I'm only taking as many as I can _without_ being noticeable."

It apparently didn't take much convincing because they started giving her some before she could finish her sentence. She was able to stuff some in her bag, as well as in her jacket pockets and they seemed slightly shocked when she stuffed some in her bra. She just shrugged and gave them a look as if to say _where else would I put them?_ And thank goodness she did take some because immediately after that, Mrs. Weasley caught them and took everything off of them. As they all left the house, in a very tense atmosphere, the twins both ran up to Rory and gave her a hug from both sides.

"Rory, you are a genius-" started Fred.

"And a life-saver-"

"We have decided that we are humbly-"

"And graciously-"

"In your debt." They finished together.

Rory just smirked, "I know, I know, I am amazing and brilliant. What else would you expect from a clever Ravenclaw like me?"

With that George pushed her into Fred, who messed up her hair, "Oh come off it, you aren't that great."

"Yeah, you really should be more humble, Aurora."

"Especially in the presence of the most brilliant pranksters of all time."

Rory laughed as she hit Fred's hand away, "Yes, it seems you two are the perfect teachers of humility."

Rory then decided to stop being harassed and slowed down to walk with Hermione and Ginny, who were having an intellectual discussion of the social and societal roots of feminism, which turned out to be quite the stimulating conversation. They were deep in conversation, but it stopped as they came to the base of, what seemed like a giant, hill. Then they stopped talking. They didn't have the breath for it.

As they made it to the top of the hill, Mr. Weasley was looking for the Portkey, but everyone else stopped to catch their breath.

Rory caught up to George and put all of her weight on him, as Ginny did the same to Fred, "I swear that was worse than my hardest practices."

George rolled his eyes as he pushed her off of him, and subsequently onto the ground, "Oh get over yourself, it wasn't that bad."

She glared at him from the ground and nudged his knee with her foot, making his legs give out so he landed on the ground right next to her.

She smirked, "Yeah, because you seem so unaffected by it."

Ginny laughed as she helped Rory up and George stuck out his tongue. Rory was about to retort when a shout pierced the air, "Over here, Arthur! Over here, son, we've got it!"

They forgot about their little squabble as they followed Mr. Weasley towards the voice. As they approached, Rory figured the man who had shouted was the one with a beard holding a gross-looking, old boot. Mr. Weasley introduced him as Amos Diggory and the (extremely attractive) boy next to him as Cedric. Rory knew of Cedric, and had obviously seen him around the castle and on the pitch, as he was the Hufflepuff seeker. However, no matter how many times she had seen him, she could never get over just how handsome he was. He just had this natural boyish charm, and it honestly took her breath away when he smiled at all of them. She glanced over at Hermione and Ginny and saw that they also looked like lovestruck fools, well, Rory was just glad she wasn't alone in that.

She tuned back into the conversation when she heard Amos exclaim, "Harry _Potter_?"

She sighed having heard this a million times, but it took a different turn when he seemed to be putting Harry down for falling off of his broom after he was attacked by _dementors_. Her eyes narrowed more and more by the second until she was full on scowling. She lost her control when he stated, "One falls off his broom, one stays on, you don't need to be a genius to tell which one's the better flier!"

"Well maybe if you didn't have all of the facts that is what you would assume, but the fact is that Harry was attacked by a dementor while on his broom. That is what caused him to fall off, it had nothing to do with his flying skills. Do you mean to tell me that if your precious Cedric had been targeted by dementors he would have stayed on by sheer skill as his soul was being sucked out of him. I don't think so," she finished, while still scowling at the proud man in front of her.

"I-I.. well. I mean to say… who are you anyway?"

She sighed (still scowling), "Aurora Potter, an absolute _pleasure_ to meet you. Now if you could refrain from belittling my brother in regards to something you know nothing about, that would be much appreciated." At this she flashed a quick, smug smile and turned her back to him to be met with the smirks of the twins and the sigh of Hermione. She shrugged her shoulders at them as she heard Arthur change the subject before Amos could dwell on the fact that he was scolded by a 14-year-old girl.

The next thing she knew, Rory was being crowded around the old boot and being told to touch it, which was easier said than done with the amount of people and the fact that they all had bags and backpacks taking up even more room. She found herself squished between Ron and George and she was vaguely aware of Arthur counting down when she suddenly felt like she was being pulled by her stomach off of the ground and she was being thrown into the sides of Ron and George. She had to close her eyes because the swirling colors were making her dizzy, and suddenly it all stopped as her feet touched the ground. However, she was not on her feet for long as Ron fell over onto Harry, making her fall over onto both of them, subsequently leading to George falling on her. When she finally felt like she could look around, she noticed that Arthur and the Diggory's were standing but everyone else seemed to be similarly disoriented on the ground. She groaned as she felt Ron and Harry move, and as she went to get up off the ground, a hand was in front of her face. She looked up to see her brother smiling down at her as she graciously accepted his help.

As she stood up, with Harry's help, all she could say was, "I hate Portkeys."

 **A/N: Hi everyone, I'm so sorry for how long this has taken to get out, but life got crazy and I had major writer's block. But it's here now! If you guys could review with any feedback and/or suggestions that would make me very happy haha. I hope you guys enjoyed it and I will do my best to get the next chapter out a lot quicker than this one took haha. Thank you all for reading!**


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